Systems for providing informed opinions regarding products and services have been in use for many years. For example, Consumer Reports® publishes a guide in which comparable models of products are rated by experts who conduct appropriate research. The results are typically compiled and presented in the form of consumer reports that are organized or searchable by product showing the various competitive models and indicating ratings such as “star ratings” assigned to the various models by the researchers. A wide variety of product and service reviews are currently available, typically organized into guides comparing and rating particular categories of products or services. For example, one can find automotive guides comparing and rating automobiles, movie guides comparing and rating movies, hotel guides comparing and rating hotels, restaurant guides comparing and rating restaurants, and the like.
With the increasing popularity of online shopping, major online sales organizations have also developed systems for receiving and publishing customer feedback regarding particular sellers as a way to provide purchasers with information regarding experience that prior shoppers have had with the vendors. Google® and Amazom®, for example, provide online shopping customer feedback systems that have become quite sophisticated. These systems typically employ a rating system, such as “star ratings” applicable to particular vendors, and also provide users with access to individual customer comments, product or service reviews, critiques of product or service reviews, and other information. In general, these systems are useful for informing the online shopping community about particular products, service and vendors, including disseminating customer feedback and to potential purchasers about superior and sub-standard performers.
Vendor directories organized by product or service categories have also been in use for many years. These directories are often organized or searchable by geographical area, and for each geographic area are further organized into categories of products and services. The most prominent examples are the “Yellow Page” directories, which are typically published annually on a community-by-community basis. As another example, Thomas Register® publishes technical directories of vendors for industrial products and services organized by category of product or service. Many variations of these types of vendor directories have been developed over the years and can currently be found both in print and online formats. Records of complaints and other customer feedback information are also made available for individual vendors, for example through the Better Business Bureaus.
Although there are a variety of vendor information systems, product and service rating systems, customer feedback systems, and vendor directories available today, these resources are typically provided separately. As a result, a potential purchaser researching a major purchase may consult with a variety of these resources to become well informed about the choices available. For example, the customer may first conduct research into the available product models using product guides. Having found a specific model of the desired product, the customer may then do some comparative shopping using a Yellow Page vendor directory to find a local or online vendor offering the product at an attractive price. Having found a particular vendor selling the desired model at an attractive price, the careful shopper may check the Better Business Bureau or other available resources or reviews regarding that particular vendor.
While there is a great deal of information available to assist the shopper, accessing and navigating through that information can be tedious and time consuming. In addition, the time needed to make a comprehensive investigation into a particular product or service increases as the amount of available information increases. Of course, specific reviews, ratings and customer feedback statements can be biased, contradictory or even falsified. With the proliferation of free and subscription based information available in print and online, and with the proliferation of advertisements, vendors, websites and blogs, culling through all of the available information and determining which sources are most reliable information can be a substantial challenge.
This situation presents potential customers with challenges as they attempt to wade through all of the available information regarding a prospective purchase, which may be impractical for all but relatively significant purchases. This situation also presents reputable vendors with substantial communication challenges, as they seek cost effective ways to communicate with potential customers in the increasingly cluttered environment of modern communication and advertisement systems.
As a result, there is an ongoing need for cost effective systems to help customers conduct comparative shopping and find reputable vendors, and for reputable vendors to provide relevant information to potential customers.